This document was added or updated on 02/10/2012.

USING THE CURF


ABOUT THE CURF
ABOUT THE FILES

ABOUT THE CURF

The 2003 SDAC Basic CURF contains 10 separate files which are explained in detail in the File Structure document on the Summary tab. Subject to the limitations of sample size and the data classifications used, it is possible to manipulate the data, produce tabulations and undertake statistical analyses to individual specifications.
The SDAC microdata are released under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 which has provision for the release of data in the form of unit records where the information is not likely to enable the identification of a particular person or organisation. Accordingly, there are no names or addresses of survey respondents on the CURF, and other steps have been taken to protect the confidentiality of respondents. These include removing some items from the CURF, reducing the level of detail shown on the CURF for some other items, changing some characteristics such as age, sex, state for some records and dropping some children records. Any households that were still identifiable have been dropped from the file. Data on the SDAC Basic CURF will therefore not exactly match published data.

Steps to confidentialise the datasets made available on the CURF are taken in such a way as to ensure the integrity of the dataset and optimise its content, while maintaining the confidentiality of respondents. Intending purchasers should ensure that the data they require, at the level of detail they require are available on the CURF; data obtained in the survey but not contained on the CURF may be available as statistics in tabulated form on request. A full list of all the data items on the CURF is provided in the Downloads tab..

Identifiers
There are a series of identifiers on records at each level of the file.

File level identifiers

1. Household	= ABSHID
2. Family	= ABSHID, ABSFID
3. Income Unit	= ABSHID, ABSFID, ABSIID
4. Person	= ABSHID, ABSFID, ABSIID, ABSPID
5. All recipients	= ABSHID, ABSPID
6. All conditions	= ABSHID, ABSPID
7. Restrictions	= ABSHID, ABSPID
8. Specific Activities	= ABSHID, ABSPID
9. Broad Activities	= ABSHID, ABSPID, ABSAID
10. Providers of assistance	= ABSHID, ABSPID, ABSAID

Each household has a unique twelve-digit random identifier, i.e. ABSHID. On the Family level, each family within the household is numbered sequentially. The item ABSFID containing this family number also appears on the income unit and person levels. The combination of household and family identifiers uniquely identifies the family. On the income unit level, each income unit within the family is numbered sequentially. This income unit number is also stored at the person level (as ABSIID). A combination of household, family and income unit identifiers uniquely identify an income unit. Records from the establishments component don't exist at the family and income unit levels. On the person level, each person has a unique number when the household identifier and the number of the person (ABSPID) within the household is combined. This information is also recorded on each lower level. The broad areas of activity level and the providers of assistance level also have an identifier (ABSAID) which, when combined with ABSHID and ABSPID, enables information to be copied between levels nine and ten.

Identifiers can be used to copy information from one level of the file to another. The following SAS code can be used (or equivalent) to copy information from a lower level to a level above:

PROC SORT DATA=RSTCTION ; BY ABSHID ABSPID ; RUN ;
DATA SUMMARY (KEEP=ABSHID ABSPID MENTUND) ;
SET RSTCTION ;
BY ABSHID ABSPID ;
RETAIN MENTUND ;
IF FIRST.ABSPID THEN MENTUND=2 ; *Does not have learning or understanding difficulties or mental illness ;
IF RESTRICT=7 OR RESTRICT=14 THEN MENTUND=1 ; * Has learning or understanding difficulties or mental illness ;
IF LAST.ABSPID THEN OUTPUT ;
RUN ;
PROC SORT DATA = PERSON ; BY ABSHID ABSPID ; RUN ;
DATA MERGFILE ;
MERGE SUMMARY (IN=A) PERSON (IN=B) ;
BY ABSHID ABSPID ;
IF B AND NOT A THEN MENTUND=2 ; * Records which are not on the SUMMARY file ;
RUN ;

The SUMMARY file only keeps the last record for each person on the RSTCTION file so the merge is a one to one match of person records on the SUMMARY file with records on the PERSON file. Some PERSON records will have no matching records on the SUMMARY file (as the person has no restrictions). For these records the statement "If B and not A then MENTUND=2 ;" will allocate the code 2 because they don't have any restrictions. This method allows summary information from one level to be used on the level above it in the hierarchy. The item generated above can now be cross classified by any number of items on the person level file.

The following SAS code (or equivalent) can be used to copy information from a higher level to a level below:
PROC SORT DATA=RSTCTION ; BY ABSHID ABSPID ; RUN ;
PROC SORT DATA = PERSON ; BY ABSHID ABSPID ; RUN ;
DATA MERGFILE ;
MERGE RSTCTION (IN=A) PERSON (KEEP=ABSHID ABSPID SEX AGE IN=B) ;
BY ABSHID ABSPID ;
IF A AND B THEN OUTPUT ; * Only keeps records which are present on both files ;
RUN ;

Unlike the previous merge, this merge will match one PERSON record to many RSTCTION records. The statement "If A and B then OUTPUT ;" ensures that only records present on both files are kept. If this statement was not used then PERSON records without a corresponding RSTCTION record would appear with a missing value for all RSTCTION data items. Note that the data items copied from the PERSON level will now have the counting unit for the level they have been added to, restrictions in this case.Collection component identifiers

The person level contains two items indicating whether the data were collected in the household or cared accommodation component. These items are POPESTAB and DWELTYPE. The item DWELTYPE has the categories 'Private dwelling' and 'Special dwelling' for all households and 'Not applicable' for the cared accommodation component. The item POPESTAB has the category 'Living in an establishment' for the cared accommodation component and 'Not in this population' for the household component. These items can be copied from the person level to other levels of the file as required.
ABOUT THE FILES

BASIC CURF (on CD_ROM and accessible through RADL)

The BASIC CURF distributed CD-ROM contains the following files:

Data

DAC03.CSV

This file contains the raw confidentialised survey data in hierarchical comma delimited ASCII text format.

SAS files

These files contain the data for the CURF in SAS for Windows format.

DAC03HH.SD2 contains the Household level data
DAC03FAM.SD2 contains the Family level data
DAC03IU.SD2 contains the Income Unit level data
DAC03PER.SD2 contains the Person level data
DAC03ALR.SD2 contains the All Recipients level data
DAC03CON.SD2 contains the All Conditions level data
DAC03RES.SD2 contains the Restrictions level data
DAC03SPA.SD2 contains the Specific Activities level data
DAC03BRA.SD2 contains the Broad Activities level data
DAC03PAS.SD2 contains the Providers of Assistance level data

SPSS files

These files contain the data for the CURF in SPSS for Windows format.

DAC03HH.SAV contains the Household level data
DAC03FAM.SAV contains the Family level data
DAC03IU.SAV contains the Income Unit level data
DAC03PER.SAV contains the Person level data
DAC03ALR.SAV contains the All Recipients level data
DAC03CON.SAV contains the All Conditions level data
DAC03RES.SAV contains the Restrictions level data
DAC03SPA.SAV contains the Specific Activities level data
DAC03BRA.SAV contains the Broad Activities level data
DAC03PAS.SAV contains the Providers of Assistance level data

STATA files

These files contain the data for the CURF in STATA format.

DAC03HH.DTA contains the Household level data
DAC03FAM.DTA contains the Family level data
DAC03IU.DTA contains the Income Unit level data
DAC03PER.DTA contains the Person level data
DAC03ALR.DTA contains the All Recipients level data
DAC03CON.DTA contains the All Conditions level data
DAC03RES.DTA contains the Restrictions level data
DAC03SPA.DTA contains the Specific Activities level data
DAC03BRA.DTA contains the Broad Activities level data
DAC03PAS.DTA contains the Providers of Assistance level data

Information files

RESPONSIBLE ACCESS TO CURFs.PDF

This is an acrobat file explaining the CURF users' role and obligations when using confidentialised data.

DATA_ITEM_LISTING_DAC03.TXT

This file contains documentation of the DAC03.CSV raw data including data item labels, code values and category labels.

FORMATS.SC2

This file is a SAS library containing formats.

FREQUENCIES_HH

This file contains documentation of the Household level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted household frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_FAM

This file contains documentation of the Family level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted household frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_IU

This file contains documentation of the Income Unit level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted household frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_PER

This file contains documentation of the Person level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted person frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_ALR

This file contains documentation of the All Recipients level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted person frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_CON

This file contains documentation of the All Conditions level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted person frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_RES

This file contains documentation of the Restrictions level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted person frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_SPA

This file contains documentation of the Specific Activities level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted person frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_BRA

This file contains documentation of the Broad Activities level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted person frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

FREQUENCIES_PAS

This file contains documentation of the Providers of Assistance level data. Data item code values and category labels are provided with weighted person frequencies of each value. This file is in plain text format.

CURF_INFO_PAPER.PDF

This is an acrobat file that contains the CURF Information Paper.

SDAC03 Basic CURF on RADL

Test files

The test files mirror the actual data files, but have random data and random identifiers. These files are on the RADL website and can be downloaded so users can use these to trouble shoot their code prior to submitting RADL jobs.

FORMATS.SC2 is a SAS library containing formats for the test files.
DAC03HH.SD2 contains the test file of Household level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03FAM.SD2 contains the test file of Family level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03IU.SD2 contains the test file of Income Unit level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03PER.SD2 contains the test file of Person level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03ALR.SD2 contains the test file of All Recipients level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03CON.SD2 contains the test file of All Conditions level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03RES.SD2 contains the test file of Restrictions level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03SPA.SD2 contains the test file of Specific Activities level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03BRA.SD2 contains the test file of Broad Activities level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03PAS.SD2 contains the test file of Providers of Assistance level data in SAS for Windows format
DAC03HH.SAV contains the test file of Household level data in SPSS format
DAC03FAM.SAV contains the test file of Family level data in SPSS format
DAC03IU.SAV contains the test file of Income Unit level data in SPSS format
DAC03PER.SAV contains the test file of Person level data in SPSS format
DAC03ALR.SAV contains the test file of All Recipients level data in SPSS format
DAC03CON.SAV contains the test file of All Conditions level data in SPSS format
DAC03RES.SAV contains the test file of Restrictions level data in SPSS format
DAC03SPA.SAV contains the test file of Specific Activities level data in SPSS format
DAC03BRA.SAV contains the test file of Broad Activities level data in SPSS format
DAC03PAS.SAV contains the test file of Providers of Assistance level data in SPSS format

For users of the CURF on CD ROM or RADL, other information available from the ABS web site includes:

• Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2003 (cat. no. 4430.0)
• Disability, Ageing and Carers: Disability and Long Term Health Conditions, Tables 1 to 11, 2003 (cat. no. 4430.0.55.001)
• Disability, Ageing and Carers: Caring in the Community, Tables 1 to 16, 2003 (cat. no. 4430.0.55.003)
• Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: User Guide, 2003 (cat. no. 4431.0.55.001).